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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Antoine Careme

We have Antoine Careme to thank for exquisite French pastry. In my recent studies comparing American pastries with. ...French pastry, I discovered there is a serious lack of gloss, glitz and l'abricotage on the home turf.L'abricotage is that generous application of apricot jam syrup.Parisien patisseries fling it about with abandon. This New York tart lacks shine and sparkle. A dusting of powdered sugar can do in a pinch...Gerard Mulot's beauty combines powdered sugar AND l'abricotage... Elaborate Parisien desserts are no accident... When there is such a long tradition. Check out Cooking For Kings,The Life of the First Celebrity Chef, Antoine Careme (it could say pastry chef par excellance). Merci M. Careme. Why you'll find divine fantasies in every Paris pastry vitrine. Bonne Mercredi!

Clever juxta-positioning. Looks like an art exhibition looking at the difference between 2 artists. Cheers to shiny pâtisseries, Carol! The French certainly know their stuff. Just back from Scotland and totally agree with you!

I once read that the reason behind the beauty so common in Italy is that the Italians are a visual, rather than a written, culture, and that it is more important to fare una bella figura than anything else. This seemed to make sense, but the French who have always, and evidently, continue to produce, beautiful objets d'art, have a rich written tradition also. Perhaps it's this attention to detail, regardless of metier, that makes life there so intolerably attractive to the rest of us? Beautiful photos, by the way.